LABOUR MPs have paid tribute to Gordon Brown after he gave up the battle to remain in Downing Street and announced he was quitting as party leader.

LABOUR MPs have paid tribute to Gordon Brown after he gave up the battle to remain in Downing Street and announced he was quitting as party leader.

Birmingham MPs said they believed the sudden announcement could keep Labour in power – with the support of the Liberal Democrats.

Mr Brown revealed his decision outside Downing Street yesterday, in a last ditch attempt to keep the Tories out of office.

But Tories countered by announcing they were willing to offer the Liberal Democrats their long-sought goal of reform of the voting system.

Khalid Mahmood (Lab Perry Barr) said: “Gordon has done the right thing. We lost the election and he has taken responsibility for that.”

And Richard Burden (Lab Northfield) said: “I hope this clears the ground for the discussions between Labour and the Liberal Democrats that I think make a great deal of sense.”

Meanwhile, former Ladywood MP Clare Short: “I think he’s done exactly the right thing for the country. The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have very different policies and values, and though they have been trying, they might not reach an agreement.

“What we need now is for the progressives to get to together to thrash out a programme to protect the poor, but it is going to be fasinating to see what will happen now.”

When asked about who will take over as Labour Party leader, she said: “It’s too early to say and the list is too long. Obviously there are people like David Miliband, Ed Balls and Harriet Harman who will want it, but I’m a fan of Alan Johnson.

“We don’t want a macho politician this time, we need someone who is nice and consistent and I think he would be that.”

n Conservative William Hague said his party would agree to hold a referendum on introducing the “alternative vote” system – if Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg agreed to join a Tory-led coalition government.

This would allow general election voters to choose a number of candidates in order of preference, instead of simply placing a cross next to their favourite.

It falls short of the Liberal Democrat demand for a fully-proportional election system. However, it does mean the Conservatives are matching the offer made by Labour, which also promised to introduce the “alternative voting” system.

Liberal Democrats have already begun informal talks with Labour about a potential deal to keep the Tories out of office.

But one of the stumbling blocks was believed to be Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg’s belief that he could not help Mr Brown remain Prime Minister.

Mr Brown said Labour would have a new leader by the time it held its party conference in October.

But he hoped to stay in charge long enough to oversee a deal with Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats, which would allow Labour to stay in government with a new leader.

He said: “The reason that we have a hung parliament is that no single party and no single leader was able to win the full support of the country. As leader of my party I must accept that as a judgment on me. I therefore intend to ask the Labour Party to set in train the processes needed for its own leadership election.”

Conservatives won 306 seats in last week’s election, 20 short of the 326 needed to enjoy a majority in the Commons. Labour won 258 and the Lib Dems won 57.

If Labour and the Lib Dem worked together, they would need to form a “rainbow coalition”.

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